West Ham picked up a 2-0 win over Fulham over the weekend, rising to 9th in the table by virtue of their victory over Claudio Ranieri’s side. The Hammers, as mentioned by manager Manuel Pellegrini after the game, didn’t create too many chances, but were clinical with the few that they created.

While the likes of Garth Crooks (BBC) and Danny Mills (Sky) didn’t have any West Ham players in their TOTW, Jamie Redknapp and Robbie Savage thought a couple of Hammers did merit representation in their team. [Read more…]

Felipe Anderson continues to grow in stature with every week and his Round 16 performances have seen the Brazilian named in literally EVERY Premier League Team of the Week named by various TV pundits, as well the European Team of the Week. The 25 year old scored a gorgeous goal in West Ham’s 3-2 win over Crystal Palace over the weekend, helping the Hammers to register three straight league victories in a row.

Let’s see what various pundits had to say about Anderson’s performance in GW16.

Garth Crooks: Crooks suggests that Anderson is in the same class as Di Canio and Payet and says this could be the “beginning of a rather beautiful friendship with the Hammers”. The Brazilian is also the only player from outside the “big six” in Crooks’ Team of the Week. [Read more…]

Two delightful goals from Robert Snodgrass and Felipe Anderson and a well taken poachers’ effort from Javier Hernandez gave West Ham their third straight Premier League win as they beat Roy Hodgson’s Crystal Palace 3-2 at the London Stadium.

As they had done against Cardiff, the Hammers trailed at the interval, but blew away their opponents in a strong third quarter performance. Interestingly, they have also scored three goals in each of these three wins, triumphing 3-0, 3-1 and 3-2 respectively.

Manuel Pellegrini chose to restore his defence to full strength, with Fabian Balbuena and veteran Pablo Zabaleta both coming back into the XI after sitting out the Cardiff game. Lucas Perez’s impressive game off the bench against the Bluebirds earned him a starting spot in the absence of the injured Marko Arnautovic. [Read more…]

Even though the pundits had West Ham as firm favourites against Crystal Palace, we, like many fans around us, were not sure of three points! Inconsistency has been such a hallmark of West Ham’s play in recent times- two wins from two games was fantastic, but three from three? Surely not! Palace had been so woeful against Brighton in midweek and were roundly criticised by fans and pundits alike. Roy Hodgson however named the same XI that had done duty against the Seagulls, and one thought they’d be up for this game, wanting to prove a point. Privately we thought a draw would be good enough, and at half time, after McArthur’s goal and Milivojevic hitting the bar with his free kick, most fans would’ve probably taken it. Instead, like they had done against Cardiff, West Ham blew away their opposition in the third quarter. We had suggested post the Cardiff game that Anderson and Snodgrass would be our most creative players in the absence of Arnautovic, and the duo scored fantastic goals that helped the Hammers win 3-2 in front of their biggest league crowd of the season.

Here are some talking points from the game today.

Did Andy Carroll have an impact?

Definitely yes. West Ham started with Lucas Perez and Chicharito upfront, and that combo didn’t seem to offer much on attack together, especially when the Hammers’ first half strategy was to put in cross after cross to Palace’s imposing central defensive pair of Tomkins and Sakho.

Carroll’s introduction allowed West Ham an aerial presence. Even though he didn’t do much with the ball, he always attracted defenders, which provided extra space for the likes of Anderson and Chicharito to operate. The free kick from which West Ham scored their second goal was earned by Carroll. [Read more…]

West Ham’s Felipe Anderson has been named in BBC pundit Garth Crooks’ Premier League Team of the Week for Round 11. The Brazilian scored a brace in the second half on Saturday against Burnley to help his side gain three vital points at the London Stadium.

Both of Anderson’s goals came after the interval- West Ham, prior to the Burnley fixture, had only scored two second half goals across ALL ten of their previous Premier League games this season.

This is what Crooks had to say about Anderson’s performance against the Clarets.

The Brazilian has looked impressive on the ball this season, however, against Burnley he looked just as impressive in front of goal.

Anderson was the only West Ham player in Crooks’ Team of the Week. The Irons had three representatives the previous week- goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski and defenders Pablo Zabaleta and Fabian Balbuena. [Read more…]